Witnessed by: TCM · Western · Unani
Corn silk (Zea mays), of the Poaceae (Gramineae) family. Tall annual grass; the silk is the long thread-like styles of the female flower; native range: Mesoamerica; carried worldwide after the Columbian exchange and now grown everywhere. Globally recognized as makai ke baal in Hindi, yu mi xu (玉米须) in Chinese, kakri-e-zurra in Arabic, and maize silk, Stigmata Maydis, Indian corn in English. The part used is style and stigma (corn silk), gathered before pollination. Fine, glossy threads of pale green to golden-brown, soft and faintly sweet, with a bland mucilaginous taste when steeped.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
CORN SILK
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Corn silk
- Scientific name
- Zea mays L.
- Family
- Poaceae (Gramineae)
Form
- Part used
- style and stigma (corn silk), gathered before pollination
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet · bland
- Western
- sweet · bland
- Unani
- bland (faintly sweet)
Temperature
TCM: neutral
Western: cool
Unani: cold (& dry)
convergence: the silk is reckoned cool to neutral by all who name it — a soothing drain of damp heat from the waterways
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Bladder · Liver · Gallbladder
- Western
- kidneys · bladder · mucous membranes
- Unani
- kidneys · bladder
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- promotes urination and drains damp, reduces oedema, clears damp-heat and benefits the gallbladder (relieves jaundice)
- Western
- diuretic, demulcent, soothing and mildly cholagogue; calms irritation of the urinary tract
- Unani
- mudirr-e-baul (diuretic), mufattit-e-hasat (lithotriptic), and dafi-e-sozish (allays scalding); a cooling drain of the kidneys and bladder
Cautions
Contraindications: cold, deficient conditions with copious clear urine; take care in those on diuretic therapy
Toxicity: none of note; a bland and safe remedy
Interactions
- Western
- diuretics: additive diuretic effect, possible potassium loss · antidiabetic agents: additive glucose lowering · antihypertensives: additive blood-pressure lowering
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